


Tremors-S1E14: Spider Perfection

by TekeoMiona



Series: Tremors-AmVerse [1]
Category: Tremors the Series
Genre: Science Fiction, Spiders, graboids, mixmaster - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-11
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:46:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TekeoMiona/pseuds/TekeoMiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mixmaster has once again thrown random species together and created yet another annoying hybrid. And now the residents have to solve it while keeping the compound a secret from a visiting friend of Rosalita’s and her cousin. And they nearly lose a few of their own in the process. Who? READ AN FIND OUT!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sucky summary is sucky. I know. It's a bit better than it sounds though, promise. Though to be honest, I personally hate it, as well as the next episode. Happens when you're an artist I s'pose. Also, Lupe is s'posed to be me, and Alex is a friend of mine from school. Grew up with him, he's a bit odd. Kinda like a cousin in a way. :) Enjoy. By the way, does that look anything close to spelling Graboccino? I tried.
> 
> The "AmVerse" title for this series is what one of my friends started calling it, since my name starts with AM.

"Tyler? Tyler! TYLER!"

The man jerked awake and sat up quickly, automatically reaching for the gun next to his bed. Halfway there his forehead suddenly connected with some hard and he fell back with a yelp that was echoed by another, familiar voice.

Blinking back the stinging pain, Tyler made out a dark brown head and dorkily dressed body through his watering eyes and groaned.

"Dammit, Larry."

"Sorry," the sci-fi fan mumbled, rubbing his own forehead.

"Why the hell are you in my house?"

"Well, technically, it's a garage, not a house," Larry pointed out nervously.

Tyler gave an irritated huff. "Is there a _reason_ you're _here_?"

"Burt found new tracks in the area of the old lab, near the Maze," Larry replied quickly.

The tour guide frowned, sitting up. "Did he see a creature to go with them?"

"No."

"Body?"

"No."

Tyler's lips tightened in annoyance. "Did he say he _needed_ me?"

"...No."

"Then why the hell did you have to wake me up! Geez. Do you _have_ to get so excited about everything?" Larry just bit his lip in response and Tyler sighed in resignation. "Whatever. Did he say anything else?"

"Just that we should keep an eye out for anything suspicious, but we do that anyways. Oh yeah, and he wants waffles."

"What?" Tyler paused in his reaching for his clothes and gave the other man a puzzled look.

"He said he's on his way back to town and that he wants Jodi's special for breakfast, which today is blueberry-cinnamon waffles."

"Oh."  


_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO** _

  
Burt arrived in town shortly after the incident at the garage. He looked around as he entered Changs', noting the presence of Jodi, Tyler, and Nancy at the counter while Larry wandered around the shelves, rearranging and straightening the merchandise, as per usual.

He joined the three at the counter, sitting next to Tyler who raised his Graboccino in greeting and mumbled a sleepy, "Morning."

"Hey Burt," Jodi poured him a cup of strong, black coffee. "Some guy called earlier this morning, said your new locks should be coming in sometime today. You can pick them up tomorrow."

"New locks?" Nancy asked. "What new locks?"

"I ordered new locks for the store and each of your homes," Burt replied. "Password protected. Can't have any more Franks breaking in here so easily."

"I hated that guy," Larry shivered as he dusted off Nancy's figurines.

"Normally, I'd just say you're paranoid," Tyler said, turning to give Larry a pointed glare. "But I actually wouldn't mind havin' a lock to keep certain _children_ from sneaking in and bruising my forehead."

"Oh, I was wondering why you guys had matching red marks," Jodi commented.

Nancy giggled and stood up. "Well, I'm off. I have a batch of figurines I want to get finished today." She left, exchanging a short hello at the door with Rosalita, who was just on her way in.

"Hey guys," the rancher took the potter's spot at the counter. "Tyler, what happened?! Did you hit your head on the bottom of your jeep again?"

Jodi snickered. Tyler glared at them both and took an angry swig of his coffee, ignoring the question. Burt bit back his own smile. "Morning, Rosalita. Do you know what time Harlow is supposed to be getting in?"

"Should be here soon," she replied. He called me last night, said he had a surprise for me."

"What kind of surprise?" Jodi asked.

Rosalita shrugged. "I got no idea."

Larry bounced over, about to say something, but a sudden, small shriek from the store owner cut him off.

"Larry, what did I tell you about storing your stupid geek ink under the counter!" Jodi cried, holding up a folder covered in a blue wetness. "Now it's all over my documents!"

The grown geek grimaced. "Sorry...it'll dry clear, at least."

Jodi just picked up the hand towel and threw it at him. He ducked and hurried out the door.

"Ugh, I swear, that little-" she paused when she saw that both Tyler and Rosalita were laughing quietly. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," they chorused, grinning.

She narrowed her eyes at them in suspicion but before she could say anything Harlow pulled up in his truck. He got out and walked into the store, closely followed by a young teenager with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a braid and shining blue eyes.

Rosalita gasped and jumped to her feet, pulling the teen girl into a hug. "Oh Dios mío, Lupe what are you doing here?!"

Lupe laughed. "I was visiting family in Bixby when I ran into Harlow and decided to come see you before I went back to Kansas."

Rosalita turned back to the others. "Guys, this is Lupe. I ran into her a few years ago. Lupe, this is Tyler, Jodi, and Burt. Tyler runs the tour, Jodi runs the store, and Burt…..well, he runs the town and _tries_ to run the valley."

Burt frowned slightly at the remark. The frown turned into a glare as Tyler started chuckling.

Lupe giggled at the exchange and waved. "Howdy."

The (fairly) peaceful moment was suddenly shattered by a scream outside.

"Nancy!" Harlow hurried out the door, the others following quickly. Larry met them halfway across the street.

"Larry! What happened?" Burt demanded.

"Some tourist is dead!" Larry replied breathlessly. "And it wasn't El Blanco."


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Rosalita gaped at him. "What do you mean it's not El Blanco? How do you know?"

Larry took a deep breath. "You'll have to see for yourself."

Burt wasted no time in doing just that, jogging over to Nancy's house and around back. Nancy was standing next to her 70's Chevrolet van, one hand over her mouth and shaking. She pointed wordlessly to the vehicle. Burt hurried over to it, Tyler, Larry, Jodi, and Lupe following behind him as he rounded the corner. What he saw was so surprising he froze, causing a domino effect on the others.

"Sheesh Burt, watch where you're-" Tyler's voice cut off as his eyes dropped to the ground. For a moment all was silent.

"Oh my god," Jodi finally whispered in horror. "What could do that?"

"I don't know," Burt replied quietly, staring at the jelly-like mass of human flesh, muscle, and bone embedded into the dirt in front of him.

"Not a Shrieker?" Lupe asked hopefully.

"Definitely not," Tyler said. "They don't melt their victims."

"It even melted the bone," Burt murmured, kneeling down to inspect it closer. "Not even that overgrown plant could do that."

"Plantimal," Larry corrected.

"Whatever."

"What's a Plantimal?" Lupe asked.

"Hey Burt," Tyler called from several feet away where he was doing his own inspection of the ground. "You seen these before?"

He was kneeling next to strange tracks; deep narrow holes in the sand every foot or so.

Burt frowned. "These are just like the tracks I found this morning at the lab."

"You mean we have _another_ weird thing in the valley?" Jodi asked, looking both annoyed and slightly horrified. "Something that can do _that_?"

"So it would seem. Tyler go call Twitchell, tell him to close off the valley for now. Larry, see if you can find a tarp to cover this up," Burt ordered as he started after the strange tracks.

Lupe followed him. "What did Jodi mean by 'another'?" she asked curiously.

"She was just talking about El Blanco, our local Graboid," Burt replied curtly.

"Oh."

Burt cast a glance at the girl. If there was a new Mixmaster creature on the loose then she couldn't very well stay here. But something about her gave Burt the impression that she wasn't as gullible as the average tourist and most likely wouldn't fall for the same excuses. He decided to talk to Rosalita about it before he did anything.

"Hey, what's that?"

Burt followed Lupe's outstretched finger pointing to a dark splotch near the top of the small hill behind Nancy's house. He frowned and hurried up to it.

"Looks like somethin' got sick," Lupe said, wrinkling her nose.

Burt grunted in agreement, taking up a swab sample.

"What're you gonna do with that?"

"Test it at the lab."

"What lab?"

"We have a small research lab here in the valley, run by a couple scientists."

"Why do you have a research lab?"

"Why are _you_ so full of questions?" Burt countered, beginning to feel paranoid at the onslaught.

"I'm a curious person," Lupe replied.

"Well, bottle it for now would ya?"

Burt ignored the faint huff of response and turned back to the town. No one was at the scene of the crime so he went on towards the store. Tyler met him half way.

"Twitch is sendin' someone out for the body and to file a report. Oh, and he's absolutely forbidding the use of the 'M-word' since I kept sayin' it when the bugs were here last week and he wants a break," Tyler rolled his eyes. "So did you find anything?"

"Yeah," Burt held up the small jar with the sample. "Apparently whatever the creature is got sick. I'm takin' it up to the lab and then you and I are goin' tracking."

"Cool."

"Can I come to the lab?" Lupe asked.

"I don't see why not," Tyler said.

"I do," Burt objected.

"Aw come on Burt, I'm sure Casey wouldn't mind the company. 'Sides, I'd think you'd want to have the obnoxious tourist out of your way," Tyler grinned.

"I'm only gonna get curiouser," Lupe added.

"Curiouser isn't a word," Burt grumbled. "Fine, whatever. Just make sure you don't get under foot."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Casey was working alone in the main room of the lab when they arrived.

"Oh hey guys. Jodi said you were on your way, what have you got?"

"Stomach fluid I think," Burt replied, handing her the evidence. "Also a visitor."

"Hi," Lupe smiled. "I'm kinda a geek when it comes to science, I was hopin' I could hang around an maybe learn some. Particularly of your Graboid."

Casey beamed. "No problem. Just let me get started on testin' this and then I'll give you a tour." She turned to the men. "And I'm afraid it might take awhile, some of my equipment's been acting up. Roger's in Bixby now picking up replacements."

"That's fine, we're gonna be out awhile anyway," Tyler replied, following Burt back out the door. "See ya later."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


"I have never been more annoyed with tracks in my life," Tyler grumbled, leaning out the window of the truck and staring at the desert sand passing below.

After leaving the lab Burt and Tyler had headed back to Nancy's and started off after the tracks. Now, two and a half hours later, they were sweeping the valley in a classic grid pattern, trying to find either the tracks that had suddenly disappeared into thin air, or any other sign of the mysterious creature. So far they weren't having any luck.

"Yeah," Burt sighed. "I've never had tracks disappear like that on soft ground. Unless…."

"Unless what?"

"Unless the creature is a jumper," Burt pursed his lips in thought. "I've been thinking. Those tracks sort of remind me of spider tracks. And there are some spiders that can jump over 50 times its body length. If those spiders where several feet in length instead of sever centimeters, they could jump a good distance. Maybe even enough to seemingly disappear."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like one of those horror science fiction shows with the giant spiders that spring up out of nowhere and eat everybody until a few lucky people come up with some corny, genius plan to get rid of 'em and save the day."

"And now you sound like Larry," Burt mumbled. "But in this valley it's possible."

"So, you think we have a giant jumping spider runnin' around?" Tyler asked, sitting up.

Burt shrugged. "Or a variation of one. It would explain how the tracks disappeared anyway, and the remains. Some spiders usually melt the insides of their prey; this one probably has a higher concentration of acid."

"Well that sounds lovely."

A small beeping from the seismo monitor interrupted their conversation. Tyler glanced down and watched as the familiar blip known as El Blanco made his way by. Another blip on the road to town drew his attention.

"Looks like we got another visitor," Burt commented.

No sooner than he finished his sentence when the blip suddenly veered off to the side, flickered, and then disappeared. Tyler raised his eyebrows.

"Well that didn't look good."

Luckily they were fairly close to the road and quickly found the place where the signal had been lost. On the left side of the road, partially in a ditch and nearly on its side, was a black Mercedes.

A young boy of about Lupe's age was climbing out of the wreck as Burt pulled up. Tyler hurried over to him.

"You okay?"

"I think so," the boy replied, checking his appendages carefully. "Don't think anything's broken, just sore."

"What happened?" Burt asked.

"I'm not sure," the boy glanced back at his ride. "I was just drivin' along when this….. _thing_ came flying out in front of me. All I could really make of it was a blobby blur. It hit the front of my car and headed off that way."

Burt turned towards the indicated direction and his eyes narrowed. "Tyler."

"What?" Tyler looked up from his inspection of a cut on the boy's arm and followed the survivalist's gaze to the ground. It was covered in the same lines and holes as before.

Burt set his jaw as he looked at the tracks. These were closer together than the other ones. Which could mean only one thing. Whatever they were dealing with; it was more than one.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Casey stared at the data sheet in front of her, reading the test results for the fluid Burt had brought in. As was expected, Mixmaster. Along with a few different spiders DNA and something else she couldn't quite figure out. Either way, it meant trouble.

The sound of Burt and Tyler entering the lab pulled her from her thoughts.

"M-word?" Tyler guessed, reading her face.

Casey nodded. "And spider. There's something else too but I'm not sure what."

"Well, guess you weren't so far off the mark, Burt."

Burt grumbled, looking none too thrilled.

"Alex?" Lupe came out of one of the side rooms, drawn by the conversation, and was staring at the young boy standing behind the two men.

"Oh, hey Lupe," the boy grinned.

"You two know each other?" Burt asked.

"We're cousins," Lupe replied. "Alex is one of the relatives I was visiting in Bixby. What're you doin' here?"

"My mom lost my ticket to the concert so I decided to come hang with you until ya left to pass the time," Alex said.

"What happened to you?"

"Some blur knocked my car off the road. These guys helped me."

"Are you okay?" Casey asked worriedly.

"Just a few cuts and bruises," Tyler assured her.

"Even so, we should get those cleaned up. In the mean time, do you guys think you could go get Cletus for me? I'm gonna need his help deciphering the rest of the DNA."

"Sure," Burt nodded. "Come on Tyler."


	3. Chapter 3

Early the next morning Burt arrived at the store to find everyone already up, although the tired look in their eyes suggested they probably hadn't gotten much sleep to begin with, worried that the creature would attack while they were in bed. Burt had been slightly worried as well, but after checking around the town for any recent tracks and drawing from the two previous attacks he had concluded that the creatures were diurnal and most likely wouldn't come snooping around during the night.

Burt made his way over to the counter and sat down; taking the mug of coffee that appeared in front of him. He watched the two cousin's help Larry stock the freezer with the supplies Jodi had picked up in Bixby the night before.

"Oh yeah," Jodi set a box onto the counter. "I ran into your lock guy and he went ahead and gave me these. Meant to tell you last night but I forgot."

"Thanks," Burt said, pulling the box towards him and opening it with his pocket knife. He took one of the locks out and examined it carefully.

Tyler crept up behind him and peered over his shoulder worriedly. "Are they Ok? No hidden bombs or dangerous chemicals that'll seep out undetected and kill us all in our sleep, right?"

The others erupted into laughter as Burt fixed Tyler with an annoyed look.

"What?" Tyler looked at him innocently, as if he truly was worried about bombs and chemicals.

Burt just rolled his eyes and shoved the obnoxious tour guide towards the door. "Go get your tools and help me install one for the store before I deny you yours."

Tyler gave a huff and stomped out with an offended air, causing another round of giggles among the residents.

Lupe paused on her way back into the freezer. "Are they always like that?"

"You mean is Burt always paranoid and Tyler always making fun of him for it?" Rosalita said with a grin. "Yes. Always."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Burt was _so_ dead. Not that he could have known that one of the creatures was in the garage or that it was now standing between Tyler and freedom; but he was the one who _had_ to guess the mystery creatures were spiders so Tyler was going to blame him for it anyway.

The thing was about a trillion times larger than the average spider and smelled about ten times worse than a wet dog. It had eight scraggly legs, course brown hair covering its body, and eight beady black eyes staring at him. That's where the similarities ended. Tyler had never taken great care to study spiders and their body types but he was fairly certain no spider had the snout of a cat.

The spider chattered in annoyance as it swung its head from side to side as if trying to find him. After spotting the giant creature Tyler had froze in his tracks and it appeared that was actually a good thing. He studied the eyes closer and noticed they seemed slightly filmy, like those animals that live in the dark all the time and have no real need for sight. Either that or it had cataracts but Tyler didn't really care. It couldn't see him if he was standing still and that was all he needed to know. Now if he could just get away.

Looking around his garage Tyler tried to find something he could use as a weapon since he had neglected to keep his gun with him (a fact Burt was sure to nail him for later). His eyes finally landed on his blowtorch lying on the shelf behind him. Just above it was a small lighter. Perfect.

Turning his gaze back to the spider Tyler took a slow, cautious step backwards. The creature didn't notice. Feeling more confident he continued moving backwards in agonizing slow steps until he felt his back hit the shelf.

Tyler froze again and stood watching the creature for a few moments. It was moving its head differently now, as if… _sniffing_? Tyler's gaze shot to the random feline snout again. Dang it! He'd forgotten about it, along with the fact that snouts usually meant sniffing abilities. Tyler felt his blood run cold as the spider picked up his scent.

Moving a little quicker Tyler reached up and grabbed the lighter, pulling the torch towards him at the same time. The spider had crouched down and was slowly crawling forward, stalking him. Tyler turned the gas on, clicked the lighter, and then- the fire only flickered.

For a moment Tyler just stared at it, amazed and annoyed that the tiny flame was not where it should be. He clicked it again and again but still nothing happened. Dammit.

This was not going to be a good day.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Burt was studying the door frame and trying to find a good place for the lock when a sudden ear-splitting screech pierced the air.

"What _was_ that?" Nancy asked, lowering her hands from her ears as the sound faded.

"Sounded like it came from the garage," Burt replied, stepping out onto the porch. He had barely taken one step however when something huge, black, and blurry crashed into him and sent him flying back into one of the tables. A loud clicking roar filled the store, drowning out the women's screams.

Burt pushed away the chair lying on top of him and sat up just in time to see Alex shoving his cousin back into the freezer as the blur slammed into the door, locking them inside. It stumbled backwards, shaking its head and Burt finally got a good look at it. A surprisingly overgrown black spider with purple and green markings on its back and…was that a muzzle? Burt didn't have time to think on that as the spider started methodically slamming its body against the already dented freezer door, trying to get in. After several times it stopped, spitting up a foul smelling glob of green that hit the door with a hiss and started melting the metal.

Burt scrambled to his feet, reaching for his gun as the spider slammed against the door a final time and shot into the cousins' hiding place. Lupe screamed but before Burt could reach them the air was filled with another piercing scream like before the attack and the spider shot back out of the freezer. The survivalist barely jumped out of its way as it thrashed in pain and raced through the broken doorway outside. He hurried after it to make sure it had left.

Nancy rushed over to the freezer as Alex and Lupe crept out cautiously. "Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah, I think so," Alex glanced at his cousin. She nodded.

"Thank goodness," Rosalita hugged them both gratefully. "But how did you scare it off?"

"Alex found blowtorch on one of the bottom shelves," Lupe replied. "Used it to stab the spider in the face."

Nancy stared at Jodi. "Why did you have a blowtorch in the freezer?"

Jodi shrugged. "I didn't even know it was in there."

"Can we discuss this later?" Burt asked from the doorway. "I don't think that was the only one."

No sooner had he spoken than the sound of more spider roars reached their ears.

"Sounds like a whole herd of 'em!" Larry exclaimed. "Or...pack? Flock? What-?"

"Shut up Larry, no one cares," Burt hurried to the others. "Get in your cars and head for my place, pronto. I'll meet you there."

"Wait, what about Tyler?" Nancy asked worriedly.

"I'll find him, now go!" Burt ushered them out of the store, making sure they were safely on their way before racing across the street to Tyler's garage.

The steel hut was silent with no sign of the tour guide at first glance. "Tyler?" Burt circled around the jeep only to trip and come face to face with a mound of smelly burnt hair. He scrambled to his feet in surprise. The brown spider was lying next to the jeep, twitching slightly in its mostly-dead state. Burt started to move around it when he heard a muffled shout from beneath the carcass.

"Tyler?" He grabbed two handfuls of the oily hair and pulled hare, sliding the body towards him and freeing the tour guide trapped between it and the tire of his jeep.

"Damn," Tyler got to his feet gingerly, wrinkling his nose. "Those things are heavy. And stinky."

"Come on, we gotta go," Burt ordered, shoving Tyler towards the exit. Outside some of the spiders had reached the town and started shrieking the moment they spotted the two men. Burt wordlessly tossed the keys to Tyler as they made a mad dash to his truck and jumped in. Tyler gunned the engine and sped down the road, somehow avoiding both the spiders and crashing.

Everyone else was waiting anxiously at the top of the steps to Burt's bunker when they arrived. Burt closed the large gate behind him and hurried down the steps to unlock the door, letting the others in. As soon as they were all safely inside he let the door lock behind him and sighed heavily.

"Is everyone ok?" he asked.

"I think so," Nancy looked around with a practiced eye but found nothing beyond bumps and bruises and a few scratches.

"Good," Burt headed for his safe room, pulling out his walkie-talkie. „I'll call the lab, tell 'em what's going on. And someone call Harlow, tell him to stay inside."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Rosalita sighed in annoyance and slumped further in the chair she was sitting in. They had been stuck down in this dull grey dump for several hours now with the freaky spider creatures scrambling around above them, screeching and roaring. It was beginning to give her a headache.

The boys were going over previous data of whatever Burt monitored in the valley to see if there was anything connected to their new guests. So far they hadn't found anything. Nancy, Jodi, and the cousins were gathered on the sofa, making small talk. Sometimes it amazed the ex-showgirl how normal it was for them to have abnormal creatures trying to kill them. If she had run into one of these things before she moved to Perfection she would have been scared out of her mind. Now she was mostly just annoyed that there was another threat after her cattle.

"Don't touch that!" Burt's voice accompanied by the loud crash startled everyone into silence. Larry was standing next to a small device that was now in several pieces on the floor. He looked at Burt guiltily.

"Sorry."

Burt just glared at him. "Dammit Larry, how many times do I-?"

"Hey hey hey, shut up a minute," Tyler said suddenly, cutting off Burt's rant. Burt sent him a withering look but said nothing as Tyler stood staring at the ceiling. "You hear that?"

The others listened as well. Nancy shook her head.

"I don't hear anyth- OH!" Her eyes widened in understanding.

Tyler grinned. "I think they're finally gone."

Burt looked through the periscope, turning it full circle. "You're right."

"'Bout time," Lupe muttered.

Burt grabbed his rifle and hurried up the steps with Tyler right behind him. "You guys stay here, we'll be back."

"Where do you think you're going?" Nancy demanded.

"Lab. See if Cletus found anything," Tyler replied before they both disappeared out the door.

Jodi frowned in confusion. "When did they decide that?"

"I don't think they did," Alex replied.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore the oddness of the quotation marks. My keyboard was set to German when I typed this chapter.

„Naphys pulex, Acinonyx jubatus, and Heterocephalus glaber."

There was no response to the redhead's revelation and after a moments silence Casey glanced up to see her audience staring at her silently. Remembering their lack of scientific education she smiled and translated, „North American jumping spider, cheetah, and naked mole rat. That's the makeup of the sample Burt brought in."

„And this one's mostly the same," Roger added over the large specimen he had grabbed from the garage after Burt's call. „Except the spider DNA is wolf spider instead."

„There's also something else we have been unable to identify," Cletus said, squinting at a computer screen. „Although...it looks...very familiar."

„Two different spiders?" Burt asked, puzzled.

„Actually, about three dozen spiders," Roger corrected. „But each creature has one specific species that's more concentrated than the others. It's...kinda like the fur colour of a Black Labrador. It can have the genes for brown fur, black fur, and white fur, but the black is more dominant."

Casey nodded. „It's quite fascinating, really. Because of the cheetah DNA the inside of the spider body is actually built a lot like that of a cheetah, giving them the ability to run at incredible speeds."

„Not to mention the random snout," Tyler put in.

„Yes, and strangely enough, that houses the naked mole rat's olfactory system, which is much more sensitive to smell than the cheetah's since they live underground most of the time."

„Don't they also have poor eyesight?" Burt asked. „Is that why it couldn't see Tyler when he wasn't moving?"

„Say it like that, it sounds like a T-Rex," Tyler commented.

Cletus shook his head. „Completely incorrect assumption. A T-Rex's vision was, actually, quite good. But, it is possible for vision to be based on movement like our new friends here. Because of their bad sight anything that stands still is more likely to go unnoticed. Where as something that moves is easier to notice."

„And what about the acid?" Burt frowned as he remembered how easily it ate through the freezer door.

„Combination of each spiders' digestive fluids," Casey explained. „Contrary to popular belief, most spiders don't just suck out their prey's bodily juices or blood. They vomit their digestive fluid on the prey so it breaks down outside the stomach before being ingested. That's what these do except they can also melt down a metal door. The combination makes the fluid much more concentrated and stronger."

„So far I'm not liking the odds," Burt said irritably.

„Oh, it gets better," Casey assured him. She tapped the table the creature was laying on. „These guys actually have a completely new and fairly efficient way of reproducing. We're not sure exactly how it works yet, but one things for sure. They can have a hell of a lot of kids."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. „How much is a lot?"

„Well," Cletus sighed. „A normal, medium-sized spider can lay about, oh, a hundred or so eggs at a time. Larger spiders, about a thousand or two. But these guys..." he shook his head.

„Great," Burt readjusted his hat angrily. „Can you find a way to kill 'em?"

„We're working on it. Should have something soon."

„Just one more question," Tyler cut in, looking confused. „How exactly did it _find_ the mole rat and cheetah DNA? We don't have either of those around here."

„The scientists probably had some in the lab," Cletus replied. „Or samples of the DNA anyway."

Burt sighed and turned to Tyler. „I'm gonna run back to the bunker, check on the others and grab a few things. You wait here, let me know if anything comes up."

„Sure. Just, one thing before you go."

„What?"

Tyler took off his hat and whacked Burt on the head with it.

„Hey!" Burt ducked and glared at him. „What was that for?"

„Saying spiders."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


After Burt left the lab was fairly silent, everyone minus the tour guide working to find a weakness in the creatures. It was nearly half an hour later before they hit a breakthrough.

„Hey guys, I think I found something!" Roger called.

Casey, Cletus, and Tyler poked their heads up from their respective places in the lab.

„Is it a good something or a bad something?" Tyler asked.

„Good, I think. Here look," Roger pointed to a strand of DNA on the computer screen in front of him. „I was going through a list of poisons and testing them against the creatures' DNA. This is the only one that had any effect."

„CHBNO3. Aerophobia extirpatus?" Casey stared at the screen in amazement.

„Aero...?" Tyler glanced at Cletus. „Isn't that the stuff that was supposed to kill the ghost?"

Cletus nodded. „I guess some of the original bacteria survived and mixed with the spider. Must be the DNA I thought looked familiar."

„Lucky us."

„Yeah, no kidding. According to these tests the spiders have absolutely no protection against the poison," Casey turned away from the computer and smiled triumphantly. „All we have to do is figure out how to spread the poison to each spider and our problem's solved!"

„Easier said than done," Tyler cautioned. „We still have no idea where those things are hiding. The tracks we followed yesterday disappeared into thin air."

„Well, hopefully with the number there were today they won't disappear this time," Roger said.

A slamming car door alerted them to Burt's return and they looked up as he came through the door, followed by Lupe, Alex, and Rosalita.

„Pick up a few strays, Burt?" Tyler joked.

„They wouldn't take no for an answer," Burt replied wearily.

Rosalita smiled sweetly, „Hey, you never know. You might need us."

Burt just grunted. „Please tell me you found a way to get rid of the creatures."

„As a matter a fact, we did," Cletus grinned. „Aerophobia extirpatus."

„You're kidding."

„Nope. Ran the test myself, several times," Roger assured him. „Only poison I found that worked."

„And works well," Casey added.

„Whoa whoa whoa. Aero-whatius?" Rosalita asked.

„Phobia extirpatus," Casey repeated. „It's the poison that was supposed to kill the bacteria cloud from the mine."

„Oh. And we have that?"

„Well, no, but it shouldn't take long to get it."

„The more pressing matter would be how to deliver it to all the spiders," Cletus said. „Otherwise, this would all be for naught."

„Well the good news is we'll only have to expose a handful of the creatures," Casey drummed her fingers against the table thoughtfully. „Because of the bacteria's DNA, they're extremely susceptible to the poison, it'll spread through them quickly."

„Can we spray 'em with it, like the EPA guys did?" Tyler asked.

„But how would you get close enough?" Lupe protested, speaking for the first time. „Sure they can't see you that good if you move slow, but you yourself said they sniff as good as a bloodhound. There's no way you could get that close without being noticed."

„Not to mention the venom stuff," Alex added.

Casey perked up then as she remembered something. „Actually, we do have a way to protect against that."

„A long distance sprayer?" Lupe suggested.

„Unfortunately, no," Casey smiled at the not-quite-hidden look of disappointment on Tyler's face. „We do however, have a new hazmat suit."

„And how's that supposed to help us?" Burt asked.

„It's a new design a friend of ours was working on," Roger explained, disappearing into the back and reappearing a moment later with a dark blue protective suit. „He gave us this one to test, it's supposed to be much tougher than most suits. It might just work against the spider's spit, at least for awhile."

„Great. So all we have to do is get Tyler close enough to spray the things, hope the suit's strong enough, and then make a fast get-a-way," Rosalita shrugged. „Sounds easy enough."

Tyler gave her a shocked look. „Who says I'm doin' it?"

„Aren't you always the one doing daredevil stunts like this?" Rosalita asked with a small smirk.

The tour guide shook his head adamantly. „No thanks, not this time. I've already had my near death experience with those things, I don't want another one. Let Burt do it."

Burt frowned but before he could say anything, Roger chuckled. „I'm afraid you don't have a choice in this one, bud."

Tyler turned a suspicious glare towards him. „Why not?"

„Well, we only have one suit," Roger held it up against the survivalist. „And Burt's just a _liiittle_ too tall for it."

For a moment Tyler just stood there, feeling just as annoyingly surprised and faintly betrayed as he had when the lighter didn't work the first time in the garage. Finally he crossed his arms dejectedly and glared at Burt.

„I'm blaming you for this."

Burt rolled his eyes while Casey laughed. „Don't worry Tyler. It'll be just as Rosalita said. We go in, you spray a few, then we make a quick get-a-way. Plus, Burt'll be there with his guns if anything goes wrong. Besides, you have this uncanny ability to survive against all odds."

„Thanks," Tyler muttered, not at all pleased.

„Shouldn't they have a name?" Lupe asked suddenly. The others looked at her. „Larry was telling me about it needing a name," she said innocently. „'Cause they're not really spiders, right? More like spiders with a kick."

The adults exchanged glances, having forgotten that their two young visitors knew nothing of Mixmaster or the jumble of DNA in the creatures.

„How were they even created, anyway?" Alex added to the tension.

Tyler finally came to the rescue. „Factory spill. Idiots didn't know how to dispose of their chemicals properly, they ended up here. Some of our wildlife mutated because of it, we're still cleaning up."

Lupe grumbled something about „inconsiderate morons" under her breath.

„As for the name, we can ask Larry when we get back," Rosalita said. „It's pretty much his job anyway."

„Right," Burt turned back to the scientists, now that they had averted one crisis. „So when can we expect to attack?"

„Day after tomorrow," Roger answered from the back of the lab. „Called to see when we could get the poison, it'll take longer than I thought. Won't be in 'til late tomorrow night and by then it'll be too dark to do anything."

„Guess it gives us time to find the nest," Tyler said, although the look on his face suggested he was more interested in finding someone else to do the dirty job.

„Yeah, but we'll do that tomorrow," Burt glanced out at the late afternoon sky. „It's too late to start scouting today. Do you guys want to stay here?" he asked Casey. „Those things may attack. You'd be safer at my bunker."

„We'll take our chances," Casey said. „And we've got our own little arsenal here if we need it."

Burt gave a curt nod. „Call if you need anything."

With that the small group of visitors left, the cousins riding in the cab of Burt's truck while Tyler and Rosalita rode in the back. They kept an eye out for any of the creatures while they drove, but there was no sign until they got to the survivalist's home.

Burt stopped the vehicle and grumbled in annoyance as he watched the spider creatures crawl around the hill his home resided under. „They came back."

„What now?" Rosalita asked, eyeing the animals nervously.

„Guess we're stayin' at the lab," Burt replied, turning the truck around.

„What about the others?" Alex asked.

„Place is fortified, there's no way they're getting in. They're fine."

Tyler gave a small, nervous cough. „Yeah, but I don't think we are."

Before Burt could ask what he meant a piercing shriek answered him as the creatures noticed their audience. He hit the gas and cursed as the entire cluster started after them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore the oddness of the quotation marks. My keyboard was set to German when I typed this chapter.

The piercing shriek was heard even in the concrete bunker beneath the hill. The three occupants jumped in surprise at the loud sound, for a moment thinking that the creatures were about to break in. Instead their calls faded away and within moments the air was silent.

„What happened?" Jodi asked, staring at the ceiling in puzzlement.

„Sounded like they were chasing something," Nancy said.

Larry hurried over to the periscope and looked out. Most of the area it covered didn't go past the now tattered fence, but he could just see the next hill. As well as an extremely familiar truck trying to outrun a horde of spiders. His eyes widened. „It's Burt!"

„What?" Jodi pushed him out of the way to see for herself, just barely making out the truck and a jumping spider before they disappeared from view.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Rosalita screamed as the spider landed halfway on the truck, its front legs reaching over the cab and forcing her and Tyler to the floor of the bed. It chattered, opening its strange mouth wide to reveal two long and deadly pincers that extended to the sides. Tyler kicked at it before it had a chance to spit, his foot connecting with the head painfully. It let go only to be immediately replaced with another trying to climb its way on. Scrambling to gain a foothold against the bouncing, Tyler grabbed for Burt's rifle and shot any creature that came too close.

In the cab Burt was having a hard time of his own, struggling to keep the vehicles under control as the continuous loss and gain of the added weight caused it to bounce and threaten to swerve out of control. He glanced back to see Tyler shoot another creature before it landed on the truck, only to run out of bullets and have to club the next one.

„Dammit, Burt!" Tyler shouted, his eyes raking the bed of the truck for more ammo. „What the hell happened to being over-prepared?!"

"Watch out!" both cousins cried out, pulling Burt's attention back to the road in front of him.

Another group of spiders were headed for them, coming from the direction of the lab. One in particular was leaping straight towards the cab. Burt hit the brakes and swerved, narrowly missing the spider and nearly throwing out his back two passengers. He heard Tyler groan something about needing to work on his racing skills and Rosalita snap something less-than-friendly in Spanish.

Burt gunned the motor and shot off again as the two clusters joined together and raced after them.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Casey shuffled through the kitchen cupboards, trying to find something appetizing for dinner. Although truthfully she wasn't all that hungry. Shortly after Burt's group had left, the radios in the lab suddenly crackled, as if someone was trying to say something but got cut off. Roger had tried to respond but neither of their walkie-talkies were working anymore.

Dead batteries. Of all the deadly, terrifying, or government-conspiracy-related possibilities, it was dead batteries. And they were out of new ones. It was just so _normal_ , Casey almost laughed at the irony. Would have too, if the situation was a little less dire.

The creatures had shown up at that point, trapping the two inside and ruining Roger's initial plan go check on the bunker. They never attacked, thankfully, just milled around the lab lazily.

So for now the scientists were forced to sit, wait, and, in Dr. Matthew's case, worry.

„Uh, Casey, you do know you're looking through cleaning supplies, right?"

„What?" Casey looked up at Roger and then back to the cabinet filled with Windex, bleach, alcohol, and other bottles of extremely non-edible chemicals. She shut the door quickly. „Sorry. Was a little...distracted."

Roger chuckled. „Well, that's a relief. For a moment I thought I'd gone and pissed you off or something."

„No, I'm just-"

„Worried about the ominous radio static?" Roger squeezed her shoulders comfortingly in a one-armed hug. „I'm sure it was nothing. Someone probably just sat on their radio by accident, coincidentally at the time our batteries decided to die. The worst pain they would've felt was a lumpy poke."

Casey smiled slightly, even though she knew he was just trying to make her feel better and didn't believe himself either. He wasn't the best liar around. Probably the worst actually. But he was better at her at remaining calm in a situation like this where they didn't know what was going on.

Roger sighed. "Tell ya what? Why don't you go relax on the couch, maybe watch some crappy TV, I'll whip up some good ol' Beenie Weenies, and then we'll go to bed. Those things are mostly diurnal so they'll be gone by early morning. And we can head over to the bunker first thing. Okay?"

"Beans and hotdogs?" Casey laughed. "What's with you and beany hotdog soup for comfort?"

"Beenie Weenies," Roger corrected. "And because it works. Now shoo, and let the master work."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Larry woke early the next morning to an insistent knocking. For a moment he couldn't remember why he was in Burt's bunker, but the events of the previous day soon came flooding back and he immediately jumped up and ran to open the door.

"Casey! Roger, what happened to you two, we were trying to hold of you for hours after but couldn't and I think the others lost theirs or something 'cause we couldn't get them either and-"

"Larry!" Casey interrupted his nervous rambling. "Breathe! You're talking way too fast and leaving out a few words too, I can barely understand what you're saying."

Larry sucked in a quick breath. "Sorry."

"Now, start from the beginning," Roger suggested. "What about an attack?"

"Okay, so me, Jodi, and Nancy were sitting here, waiting for Burt and the others to come back, when the...Cheeder-mole things started screeching like the-"

"Larry."

"So I looked through the periscope to see what was happening and I saw Burt's truck racing away with all the creatures chasing them. We tried calling them on the radio a bunch a times but we never got a reply except for a short little spurt of static. We tried calling you guys too but you didn't answer either and we thought...ya know..."

"Yeah, sorry about that, our batteries died," Roger said. "We heard the static too but that was it. We weren't sure what had happened."

"You still haven't gotten any reply from them?" Casey asked, her eyes wide with worry.

Larry shook his head.

"Where are the girls?" Roger said, glancing around the empty room.

"Sleeping in Burt's bed," Larry replied with a halfhearted gesture.

"Okay. Casey, you stay here. Larry and I will go out and see if we can't find the others, they've got to be out there somewhere. Call us if you hear anything."

With that the two men hurried back outside to look for their missing friends.

"What do you think happened to them?" Larry asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

Roger sighed. "Honestly? I got no idea."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you are fluent in Spanish, don't feel hesitant to point out any issues with my translation. I grew up around the language, but I've never took the time to learn it.

Lupe watched the desert sunrise cast soft hues of purple, red, and orange across the sky. She shivered slightly as a cool breeze swept past and pulled Burt's army blanket tighter around her shoulders.

She was sitting near the mouth of a small tunnel at the edge of a large rock labyrinth that lay at the foot of the mountains. The residents called it the Maze because it was practically impossible not to get lost in. Which was why the group had not strayed further down the tunnel they had taken refuge in after the crash, despite the cramped conditions and abundance of thankfully-too-large spiders crawling around outside. Burt didn't want to risk getting stuck in some closed canyon or underground cave. Especially since he had lost his radio in the crash, Tyler's was broken, and Rosalita had left hers at home (again, apparently).

Movement behind her pulled Lupe out of her reverie. Alex stirred in his sleep but didn't wake up. Lupe was the only one awake, even Burt was still fast asleep. The day before had been a long one, and being thrown and tumbled from a truck hadn't helped much. Luckily no one suffered from anything more than some cuts and bruises, but it had still taken its toll on their already tired bodies.

**_"Hello?"_ **

Lupe jumped in surprise. The voice had come from outside. She sat still, listening.

**_"Burt? Tyler? Come on, where are you guys!"_ **

"Larry?" Lupe crawled closer to the tunnel opening. A few yards away the camouflage-painted truck still lay on its side. She couldn't see the radio but she could definitely hear it.

Slinking out a few inches from the rock face, Lupe looked around carefully. None of the creatures were nearby.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she crept out further, her eyes constantly scanning the area as she hurried to the truck. She crouched next to the rear wheels, waiting for Larry to call out again.

**_"Is anybody out there?"_ **

The voice sounded out somewhere near her feet and she jumped. She hadn't expected it to be that close.

**_"Hello?"_ **

There! Lupe could just see the tip of the antenna sticking out from beneath the tire where the radio was trapped.

Trapped, but still working.

Digging furiously Lupe slowly freed it from its sandy prison, grinning widely when it finally slipped out in her hand.

"Lupe!"

The girl whirled around with a start to see her cousin, Alex, staring at her from the tunnel.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"I found the radio," Lupe held it up as proof.

"That's great, now get back in here before those things find you!" Alex hissed, glancing about warily.

As if on cue the familiar and terrifying sound of chattering filled their ears. It was faint and a ways off but still urged Lupe to run back to the safety of the tunnel as fast as she could.

Alex let out a huff of annoyance when they got back to the others. "I thought Burt said those things only come out in the day, but they've been hanging around and chattering all night."

"Maybe we're near their nest," Lupe suggested. "Kinda makes sense, the Maze would be the perfect hiding place."

"Well, that'll make it easier to get away," Alex said dryly.

 ** _"Hellooooooo?"_** Larry's now exasperated voice answered him. Lupe giggled at the surprised look on his face.

"Couldn't a said it better maself," she said, emphasizing her country accent and waving the radio. "We have access to the cavalry now, remember?"

"Right," Alex rolled his eyes sideways, not sure he would count Larry as an almighty rescuer.

"What the heck are you two talkin' about?" Rosalita mumbled sleepily, blinking up at the two noisy teenagers standing next to her head.

"Oh, sorry Ro-"

Lupe's apology was drowned out by yet another ear-splitting screech. The men jerked awake, startled. Tyler groaned as the sound died away.

"God, that's annoying. When the hell are we gettin' out of here?"

"Oh yeah, guess what I found?" Lupe tossed the radio over to Burt. "I followed Larry's voice."

Burt blinked at it before frowning up at her. "You went outside on your own?"

"She does that," Alex sighed. "Doesn't mind the risks, just goes 'cause she's curious."

"Well, it's not like I got hurt," Lupe pointed out.

"It was still reckless and stupid," Burt snapped, the angry edge in his voice making her wince.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Rosalita asked suddenly.

They all paused, listening intently. But the only sound was their own breathing and a far-off cry of a hawk. Burt cast a questioning glance at the Latina.

"I could have sworn I heard something like...scratching or something."

"I don't hear any-" Tyler was interrupted by a gasp from Rosalita.

"There it is again, listen!"

This time they could all hear it, a faint scratching and crumbling sound above them.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"Probably one of the spiders crawling around above the tunnel," Burt replied. "I'm guessing their nest is nearby."

Lupe nodded in agreement. "That's what we thought."

The survivalist sighed and spoke into the walkie talkie. "Larry? You there? Over."

 ** _"Burt!"_** Larry's voice exploded from the black box. **_"Where the hell are you guys, I've been calling for ages!"_**

"Sorry, we had a bit of an accident. Lost our radios."

**_"Yeah, we saw you being chased off by those things last night. What happened? Why didn't you come back?"_ **

Burt fell silent for a moment. "Crashed," he replied finally, neglecting to add that it was because of him and his " _terrible_ racing skills", as Tyler put it.

**_"Crashed?! Are you guys okay?"_ **

"We're fine, Larry, just stranded. The truck's overturned and we're cut off from it anyway."

**_"Well, where are you? We'll come get you."_ **

"Negative. There're too many spiders around, they'd be all over us in a second."

**_"So what do we do?"_ **

Burt rubbed his eyes in thought. "Just...wait at the bunker for now. We'll figure out a plan. Over and out."

"I got one!" Tyler called, his voice echoing from far down the tunnel. Burt looked up in confusion, not able to see the man and wondering when he had left. A moment later Tyler came into view from the shadows, grinning. "You mentioned being close to the nest, so I followed a hunch."

"What hunch?" Rosalita asked.

"Well, I remember during the night that there were times it sounded as if the cries where coming from down there, not from the opening. And when Burt mentioned we might be close to the nest, I thought that maybe that's where this tunnel goes. So I went to check it out."

"What'd you find?"

Tyler motioned them to follow him and headed back down the tunnel. At first there was nothing to see but pitch blackness, until the passage suddenly turned sharply twice and another hole opened before them. A large, boxed basin lay just beyond.

"Good God," Burt murmured.

The crater was crawling with giant spiders of all shapes, sizes, and colours. One was in the process of dragging a weakly struggling calf into the nest where it was promptly jumped by the nearest surrounding creatures, all of them trying to get a piece of the prey.

"¡Esas malditas cosas han sido despu-!" Rosalita made no effort to keep her voice low in her anger and Tyler quickly placed his hand over her mouth before they were heard.

Burt frowned at the group of spiders fighting for the calf. "They act more like a pack of starving wolves than arachnids."

"Maybe it's the cat part of 'em," Tyler suggested as Rosalita shoved his arm away from her. "Plus with their size they probably don't have much prey to go on."

"Which means they would be trying to leave the valley as soon as possible," Burt's frown deepened. "We need to get back to the others."

"How?" Alex asked.

Gummer sighed. "We'll need a distraction, or something."

The group was silent for a moment, thinking. Finally, Tyler spoke.

"In the event something were to be destroyed, or lost, due to these things, Twitchell is obliged to reimburse us, right?"

"Yes," Burt replied warily, not sure where the man was going with this.

"Good. 'Cause I have an idea, but," the tour guide cast a glance at the still seething rancher next to him. "I don't think everyone's gonna like it."


	7. Chapter 7

"I hear mooing," Alex announced about an hour later from the tunnel entrance.

"I _see_ mooing!" Lupe added a second later, peering through Burt's binoculars. She glanced back to the others. "I think our tunnel days are about to end."

Tyler felt a rush of relief at those words, eager to leave the confines of the tunnel and get away from the rather painfully evil sounding threats coming from Rosalita. To say she was upset would be an understatement and he didn't want to wait around to see what the translation was.

The sound of stampeding cattle grew louder as their rescuers drew closer, leading the herd straight past the basin. The air was filled with terrified bellows and hungry screams as the spiders gave chase to the sudden multitude of prey. Moments later Roger and Larry pulled up in the scientists' minivan and the group clambered in.

"'Bout time you got here," Rosalita muttered darkly as they sped off, pointedly ignoring the death scene of her poor cows.

"Yeah, sorry," Roger apologized. "We had a bit of a hard time getting your-…uh, getting ready."

Burt cleared his throat to break the awkward silence that followed. "So how's everyone at the bunker?"

"Fine," Larry replied. "We had a few Cheeder-moles pass by during the night but they didn't bother us."

"Cheeder-moles?" Lupe asked, eyebrows raised. "What kinda name is that?"

"A Norvel name," Tyler sighed.

"It's a good name!" Larry said defensively.

"How 'bout Crawlers?" Alex suggested.

His cousin rolled her eyes. "How does that make any more sense?"

He shrugged. "Tyler said they sort of crawled when they hunted."

"Well, it sounds less ridiculous," Burt commented. Larry shot him a look of disbelief at his betrayal. The survivalist just shrugged.

"Whatever. Right now all I want is to wash all this dirt and sand off me," Tyler said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


"Okay. How's that? Better?"

Tyler shrugged his shoulders experimentally, the weight of the hazmat suite still feeling strange but not quite as restricting. "Yeah."

Casey nodded and helped him into the canister of toxic spider poison that Twitchell had been "nice enough" to bring them before racing back to his normal life. Roger was tinkering with the small radio in the helmet to make sure it worked while Burt kept vigil near his truck, which was parked only a few feet from the tunnel.

"Oookay, I think you're ready," Roger said, giving the helmet one final glance before handing it to Tyler. "Can you hear me?"

"If I said no, could I get out of this?"

"That's the spirit," Roger patted him on the back before turning back to the truck.

"Don't worry, Tyler, you'll be fine," Casey assured him with a smile. He just grunted.

"Okay," Roger returned, carrying one of Burt's guns. "Ready?"

"I guess," Tyler replied, falling sort of enthusiastic.

"Be careful," Burt warned.

The trip through the tunnel seemed to go faster than the first two times Tyler had travelled it. He hated time's rules. Can't wait=forever and Never please=span of two seconds.

The Crawlers were gathered at the center of the basin, milling around lazily or snacking on the remains of Rosalita's cows. Tyler would have to walk out a ways from the safety of the tunnel before he could reach any of them with the sprayer.

Roger posted himself just outside the entrance. "Good luck," he whispered.

Tyler took a steadying breath and began inching his way out, moving slowly to avoid being spotted before he could finish the job. As soon as he was close enough he turned the nozzle and started spraying the creatures within reach. A few chattered quietly and moved away but for the most part they ignored him completely.

The next moment, Tyler suddenly found himself falling, the blue sky disappearing above him as Roger's cry echoed in his ears.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


"Roger? Roger, come one, wake up," Casey coaxed.

Brown eyelids lifted slowly, blinking in confusion. "Case?" Roger's voice was a weaker than he'd expected.

"I'm here. Don't worry, you're safe. Burt got you out of the tunnel after you got bit. I gave you a vaccination against the poison, thankfully it wasn't too different from the original Black Widow. But you're gonna be weak for a few days, so just rest, okay?"

Roger just gave a small nod before closing his eyes again. Casey sighed.

"How is he?" Burt asked, leaning over the side of the truck bed.

"He'll be fine. Have you found Tyler?"

Burt's lips drew tight and he shook his head. "Roger said he fell, but I can't see any holes in the ground anywhere. At least not from the tunnel. But those damn Crawlers are too riled up to risk walking out."

Casey let out a shaky breath to try and calm her nerves. Everything had been going so well. Just their luck it wouldn't last though. The Curse of Perfection.

"How long 'til the poison starts affecting them? Casey?"

"Oh. Uh…an hour? Maybe less."

Burt nodded. "Then we'll wait for now. Hopefully the oxygen supply in his suit is still working, it should last." He stood up, grabbing his gun and heading towards the top of the cliff. "I'm going to keep a lookout, you keep trying his radio."

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


It was dark when he awoke. For a moment he wasn't sure where he was, only that the place was dark and uncomfortable. Then the memories came rushing back and he momentarily panicked when he remembered that he was underground. Something moved though, that made him freeze. Several somethings. A _lot_ of somethings.

Fumbling for the flashlight he'd used in the tunnel Tyler turned it on. He was surrounded by dirt but luckily his suit's oxygen hadn't been damaged. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Not that he was claustrophobic, but being buried alive was freakier than one would originally suspect. Sure, it _sounded_ scary, but experiencing it was much, much worse.

The something moved again and Tyler jumped, shining his light around quickly. He couldn't see anything but dirt. Wait…. "Ohhh God," Tyler whimpered, dropping his head back and closing his eyes. Crawlers. Tiny, baby, newly hatched, Crawlers. Hundreds and hundreds of tiny, little Crawlers.

He officially hated his life.


	8. Chapter 8

Burt stood at the edge of the cliff, his sharp eyes scanning the basin below through his glasses. Twenty minutes had passed with no sign of Tyler and the Crawlers were still crawling around the basin happy and healthy. He was getting impatient.

 ** _"Burt?"_** Casey's voice pulled him from his intense watch. **_"Seen anything yet?"_**

"Negative. Nothing. Crawlers don't look any worse for the wear either. Are you sure the poison will work?"

**_"I'd bet my life on it. The tests were clear, there's less than a 3% chance it won't kill them, but even then they'll be weak enough to be taken out by more conventional methods."_ **

The survivalist pursed his lips. Well, at least there was a silver lining to the situation. Still, why did they have to take so long to die?

"How's Roger doing?" he asked, changing the subject.

 ** _"Better than he was when you found him,"_** Casey replied. **_"He's breathing a lot easier now."_**

"I suppose it'd be too much to hope that he's coherent enough to tell us what exactly happen to Tyler?"

**_"Yeah, sorry. He hasn't woken up since the first time."_ **

Burt sighed. He hadn't expected any different but it was still annoying to hear. "Alright. Keep trying the radio and keep an eye out for Crawlers. Some of 'em look like they might be headin' out soon. Over and out."

Putting his radio back in his pocket and picking up his binoculars, Gummer resumed his vigil, waiting.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


It's amazing how quickly one can develop a fear when put in the right conditions. Growing up on a farm, Tyler had run into plenty of spiders and had never once been scared of them. Wary, yes, if they were poisonous; but never scared.

Now…he was officially terrified of them. Being buried alive with more tiny spider creatures than dirt could do that to a guy. Not to mention that his flashlight had died, leaving him completely in the dark. He could feel them though, crawling and creeping all over him. The ones that passed over the Plexiglas on his helmet made small tapping noises as they walked. Times that by a million or two, and Tyler's nerves were reaching their breaking point.

He could just imagine….any moment they would find a way into his suite….their tiny, needle-like legs poking his skin….crawling over his face….climbing into his nose….his ears….a real life version of that movie he'd seen as a kid-

 _'Dammit Reed, just shut up!'_ he shouted at himself angrily.

His mental self-chewing-out froze there as the ground suddenly shifted around him. Tyler stared into the darkness uselessly, waiting for Burt's shovel to come breaking through any moment and pull him out. Well, actually there were several other, much worse scenarios running more prominently in his mind, but he was doing his best to blatantly ignore them.

He just hoped the one involving the worm didn't come true.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


"Dammit, El Blanco," Burt hissed under his breath, glaring at the mound of sand and dirt moving slowly through the basin. The Crawlers had finally begun dropping off but now the damn worm had suddenly decided to take a scenic tour and was ambling around without hurry.

He was just about to toss down a few grenades to run him off when the ground next to the graboid suddenly dropped, the dirt collapsing on itself. El Blanco veered away in surprise, tunneling out of the basin quickly.

Burt stared at the strange sinkhole, zooming in on it with his binoculars.

**_"Burt? Was that El Blanco? What happened?"_ **

The survivalist ignored Casey's worried questions for a moment, looking for any movement within the fresh dirt. There was none.

**_"Burt?!"_ **

"I'm here."

 ** _"Don't scare me like that,"_** she snapped. Her voice softened. **_"Why did El Blanco tear out of there so fast? Did you do something?"_**

Burt shook his head even though she couldn't see. "No. I was about to when part of the ground next to him caved in. Startled him I guess."

**_"Caved in? Why?"_ **

"I don't know. But….I was wondering," Burt glanced through his field glasses again. "Do you know where these things make their nests?"

 ** _"Well…..typically it would depend on the species of spider, but since these things are so large, it sort of limits where they can hide them away from predators….I'd say underground or in caves would be the best bet,"_** the scientist paused for a moment, almost suspiciously. **_"Why?"_**

Burt didn't answer at all this time, instead putting his gear back in his vest, grabbing his gun, and starting down the edge of the cliff. He slid down most of the way, climbing the last few feet. Keeping quiet as possible, in case any of the Crawlers still had some fight left in them, he made his way out to the sunken hole.

  
**_ OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO _ **   


Tyler didn't remember the rescue. The collapsing dirt had been heavy, and had knocked him unconscious for nearly an hour. At the back of his mind, he was pretty sure he might have fainted at the same time, but he was never going to admit that.

It'd been a week since then. Most of the Crawlers had died from the poison, and those that hadn't had been hunted down by Burt. The nests were burned, the store wall was in the process of being fixed (again), and Roger had fully recovered.

The town was back to normal once again.

The bench that usually sat in front of the window of the store had been temporarily relocated beneath the water tower. Nancy was sitting there, glancing through one of her magazines and watching the guys work. She couldn't help but notice that this was the second time in a year that the front wall of the store had been destroyed; she wondered if it would become another regular phenomenon.

"Hey Nance!"

The potter turned her attention to Lupe, who was over from her cousins' car. "You guys leaving finally?" she asked in a teasing tone.

The teen nodded. "As soon as Alex is done shopping for all the souvenirs in Jodi's store. Then it's back to Bixby fer him and back to Kansas fer me." She grinned.

"Excited to get home, I'm sure," Nancy smiled.

"Yeah. Not that I didn't have fun, but I miss grass deserts and funky rednecks."

"Funky?" Nancy's brow furrowed in confusion.

Lupe shrugged. "The rednecks in my town are rednecks…but they're also big on the rap, and rock music, and all that stuff. It's weird. Like they're half country, half California."

"Lulu! Come on, hurry up!" Alex called. Lupe turned to make a face at him for accusing _her_ of being the slow one.

Nancy laughed. "Sounds interesting. Well, you guys be careful."

"We will," Lupe assured, waving. "See ya later!"

Moments later the black car pulled away, honking a last farewell to the residents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of "episode 14". Please let me know what you think. I'm always looking to better myself. Thanks.
> 
> Next episode is Daughter of Hokumunja.


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